Police are investigating a possible death at this home in Balch Springs, Texas. (Balch Springs Police)

(Newser)
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Police are investigating a bizarre case involving the possible death of a 2-year-old and an alleged attempted resurrection in Texas. Authorities received an anonymous tip last Thursday that a toddler had died four days earlier at a Balch Springs home that doubles as a church where "a large number of young children" live, according to an affidavit. The caller said the child's family and church members performed a "rising ceremony" shortly thereafter in an "attempt to resurrect [the] victim from the dead," the affidavit states, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The tipster added the toddler was then taken "back to Mexico" to be buried. Two people at the home told police that a child was found dead there, but police haven't been able to contact the parents or the caller and aren't certain that any death occurred.

The parents "are the only ones who can tell us for sure what happened," Lt. Mark Maret tells the Dallas Morning News. "Best-case scenario presents us with the child who's alive and healthy and just a normal 2-year-old." He adds Balch Springs police are working with state and federal agencies because "this is all new." As to what the "rising ceremony" might have involved, Maret tells CBS 11, "We don't know if this was to try and resurrect the spirit of the child ... [or] to try and resurrect the child themselves or what exactly that service or ceremony encompasses." Police seized bedding, clothing, computer equipment, and a camcorder from the home, which neighbors tell NBC DFW housed the Congregacional Pueblo de Dios. (A family lived with a corpse for six months, hoping for a resurrection.)